Product Description

Our traditional understanding of Sabbath observance is resting from our otherwise harried lives one day a week. But in Living the Sabbath, Wirzba leads us deeper into the heart of Sabbath with a holistic and rewarding interpretation of what true Sabbath-keeping can mean in our lives today. Wirzba teaches that Sabbath is ultimately about delight in the goodness that God has made---in everything we do, every day of the week. He then shows how this understanding of Sabbath teaching has the potential to elevate all our activities so that they bring honor to God and delight to the world. With practical examples, Wirzba unpacks what that means for our work, our homes, our economy, our schools, our treatment of creation, and our churches. In doing so, he examines everything from the way chickens are treated in our food industry to the value of family mealtime.

In the end, you'll be equipped with a deeper theological understanding of Sabbath, as well as down-to-earth ways to live it out in your daily life. Living the Sabbath will appeal to clergy and laypeople alike who are seeking ways to discover the transformative power of Sabbath.

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Publisher's Description

Sabbath is one day a week when we should rest from our otherwise harried lives, right? In Living the Sabbath, Norman Wirzba leads us to a much more holistic and rewarding understanding of Sabbath-keeping. Wirzba shows how Sabbath is ultimately about delight in the goodness that God has made--in everything we do, every day of the week. With practical examples, Wirzba unpacks what that means for our daily lives at work, in our homes, in our economies, in school, in our treatment of creation, and in church. This book will appeal to clergy and laypeople alike and to all who are seeking ways to discover the transformative power of Sabbath in their lives today.

Author Bio

Norman Wirzba (PhD, Loyola University, Chicago) is research professor of theology, ecology, and rural life at Duke University Divinity School in Durham, North Carolina. He is the author of The Paradise of God: Renewing Religion in an Ecological Age.

Wirzbas Living the Sabbath is a book with unexpected interpretations and analyses. From the outset, he explains that [t]his book lays out the case for Sabbath observance that does not depend on the cultural sanction of complete rest for one day of the week (p 14). He continues by asserting that we need alternative rituals to practice during the week to help us realize the ultimate goal of Sabbath keeping. His expanded Sabbath seems to touch upon every area of life, from recycling and lobster harvesting to daily worship and delight. So this book is not really about the weekly Sabbath, but about Wirzbas greening and hyper-spiritualizing of some quotidian Sabbath-creation ideal.

I read "Population Bomb" as a teenager and likely hold many of the same ecological values as Wirzba. I am overly concerned for the environment, I dont like being in debt, I think it is healthy to have a garden to care for, and I am a rabid recycler. But I did not come to these conclusions because of the Sabbath; instead, they are informed by a growing knowledge of Gods plenary word and an understanding of environmental science. While other reviewers are more forgiving of his frequent non sequiturs, this reviewer finds it difficult to accept a position that redefines the Sabbath in order to provide a platform for a pet ideology. What he manages to accomplish is to convince like-minded environmentalists that they have a biblical rationale for every idea or goal to help the planet and its people through a loose interpretation of the Sabbath. And that is the overwhelming shortcoming of this book. It is all about trying to effect menuha in this worlds institutions, connections, and relationships rather than exulting in the soulical and eschatological menuha in Jesus Christ.